An excellent summary of the election is found in Richard McCormick, The Presidential Game (NYC: Oxford UP, 1982), pp. 27-40.

Description

Creation of the office of President

The head of the executive branch of the government was created during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Gen. George Washington's even-handed presiding over the proceedings impressed the delegates, and many historians feel that the position of "president" was tailor-made for him.

Enabling Legislation

New Hampshire notified the Continental Congress on 7/2/1788 that it had ratified the Constitution. It being the ninth state to do so, the Congress began a discussion of the creation of the new government. The major issue for the delegates was where the new government would assemble. They finally agreed on New York City, and on 9/13/1788 they approved a timeline for the installation of the new government. States were allowed to elect their U.S. Senate and U.S. House members whenever they desired. Presidential electors would be chosen on 1/7/1789, with each state granted freedom to legislate its own means of the selection of Electors. The Electors would meet on 2/4/1789 to cast the electoral votes in each state and forward a statement of their vote to the new Congress to be opened at its initial session on 3/4/1789.

State Legislation

Each state was required to pass its own act for carrying out the new voting. The only state legislature in session when the Continental Congress act was passed was PA, and it was about to depart for the winter. The legislators approved an act for the selection of the U.S

The head of the executive branch of the government was created during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Gen. George Washington's even-handed presiding over the proceedings impressed the delegates, and many historians feel that the position of "president" was tailor-made for him.

Enabling Legislation

New Hampshire notified the Continental Congress on 7/2/1788 that it had ratified the Constitution. It being the ninth state to do so, the Congress began a discussion of the creation of the new government. The major issue for the delegates was where the new government would assemble. They finally agreed on New York City, and on 9/13/1788 they approved a timeline for the installation of the new government. States were allowed to elect their U.S. Senate and U.S. House members whenever they desired. Presidential electors would be chosen on 1/7/1789, with each state granted freedom to legislate its own means of the selection of Electors. The Electors would meet on 2/4/1789 to cast the electoral votes in each state and forward a statement of their vote to the new Congress to be opened at its initial session on 3/4/1789.

State Legislation

Each state was required to pass its own act for carrying out the new voting. The only state legislature in session when the Continental Congress act was passed was PA, and it was about to depart for the winter. The legislators approved an act for the selection of the U.S. Representatives and Presidential Electors by the "General Ticket" method (At Large); although the legislators preferred electoral districts, they did not have the time to carve out 12 Electoral districts and 10 congressional districts. Thus PA on 11/4/1788 was the first state to pass legislation for the first federal elections. Governors in other states called the legislature back into session. All but three states decided to have the Electors chosen on the date specified by the old Congress. In MA and NH, where state law required that all public officials receive a majority of the vote, the decision was made to hold the initial election in late 1788 (12/18 in MA and 12/15 in NH), with the legislature making the final decision on 1/7/1789 in cases where no one received a majority. In MD, the legislature divided the state into presidential elector districts and held elections on 1/7-10/1789.

In New York, Gov. George Clinton did not call the legislature into session until 12/11/1788. While a large number of the legislators favored popular election of the Electors, the legislature was hopelessly divided. Supporters of the new Constitution controlled the state Senate but not the state House. As the session dragged on, it became clear that the two houses would not agree on a mode of selection - and New York was deprived of its electoral votes in 1789.

The Campaign

No real issues existed in this first presidential campaign, which only lasted two months. Two developments dominated the campaign.

First, there was the question of who should be elected Vice President. In New York State, where the two houses of the legislature were maneuvering about how to select the Electors, leaders of the anti-federalist lower house believed that Gov. George Clinton would be an excellent choice. A "federal republican committee" met in New York City and issued a letter around 11/15/1788 which was distributed throughout the nation. Organizers of the event had been in correspondence with anti-federalists in Virginia and decided that defeating Washington was not possible. In this letter, the committee recommended Gov. Clinton as an acceptable candidate on a ticket with Gen. Washington.

Pro-Washington strategists were horrified about the possibility of a Clinton victory. Alexander Hamilton, who had first approached Washington about running for President, became the point man in the Federalist campaign. Washington made it clear to Hamilton that he preferred to remain at Mt. Vernon, and if an organized effort materialized for someone else he would step aside. With Clinton in the field, Hamilton realized that a man of eminent stature was needed for VP - and the most obvious choice was the revolutionary political leader John Adams. While Adams was not Washington's first choice, he wrote a famous letter to Benjamin Lincoln in which he stated that Adams was an acceptable running mate. From that time, Adams was the man to beat for VP.

The second development was the disorganized election of the Presidential Electors. Three states were choosing the Electors by the General Ticket (At Large): MD, NH, and PA. In PA, the parties were able to organize their efforts earlier because the legislature acted first. Supporters of Washington held a mass meeting in Lancaster on 11/2/1788 where they chose a slate of candidates for Presidential Elector and U.S. House. Anti-federalists met secretly in Harrisburg later and followed suit. The two factions in MD chose their slates of candidates through correspondence. Thus in PA and MD the most disciplined election for Electors took place.

In other states it was a very different matter. For the most part, the disorganized election in these states turned into a free-for-all as multiple candidates ran individual campaigns for Presidential Elector. Pre-existing political fault lines dominated the political debate in DE, MA, NH, and VA. In these states, it was common to have multiple Federalist candidates running against each other in the same district.

The Popular Election

Because the election of Washington was a foregone conclusion, it is difficult to gauge the results of the popular vote in national terms. In general, though, it became clear that when offered a choice of Federalist or Anti-Federalist Electors, the Federalists won. In fact, only three Anti-Federalist Electors were chosen in the entire nation in 1789.

MA and NH voted in 12/1788. Because state law there mandated that all elected officials receive a majority of the vote, the legislature provided that this initial race would 'nominate' candidates for Elector, with the legislature filling any vacancies. None of the NH candidates received a majority, and about half did not in MA. The legislatures met on 1/7/1789 to fill vacancies from the top candidates in the running.

In other states, the big news was the light turnout and the resounding defeat of anti-federalist slates. The light turnout may be the result of cold weather; George Washington noted in his diary that the day's high temperature was 39 degrees at noon. In PA, where the Federalists won 6 of the 8 seats in the U.S. House in an election on 11/26/1788, the vote dropped off by 50%. The Federalist slate there won with 90% of the vote; over half of the anti-federalist vote came from one county (Chester), although the Federalist ticket carried all counties. The other state with a major contest was MD, where the Federalists won 75% of the vote. Washington-Clinton candidates lost every race except three districts in VA. The breakdown was 35,866 votes for Federalist Electors and 2,952 for Anti-Federalist Electors.

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